Means for joining the ends of drier felts and the like



A ril 20, 1937. r T. MILNES 2,077,891

MEANS FOR JOINING THE ENDS 0F DRIER FELTS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 16,1935 I k n F164 I INVENTOR TOM M ILNES ATTORNE Patented Apr. 20, 1937UNITED STATS PATENT ()FFICE MEANS FOR JOINING ENDS OF DRIER FELTS ANDTHE LIKE Tom Milnes, Lachute Mills, Quebec, Canada, as-

signor of one-half to Ayers Limited, Lachute Mills, Quebec, Canada Thisinvention relates to means for joining together the ends of papermachine drier felts, belts and the like.

More particularly, the present invention relates to improvements injoints of the type disclosed in my prior Patent 2,005,979, granted June25, 1935. In that patent I have disclosed a joint construction in whichthe ends of a drier felt are turned back and fastened to the body of thefelt to provide integral tubular terminals. Each terminal is slotted toprovide a plurality of laterally spaced loops which are fitted betweenthe loops of the remaining terminal. One or more relatively thin fiatmetal strips are then passed through both sets of loops to serve asretaining keys for holding the loops in their interfitting relation.

According to the present invention the flat metal strips heretoforeemployed for holding the loops of the felt in interfitting relation arere- 20 placed by an improved key or holding device which is moreflexible and less liable to injure the fabric of the loops. Thisimproved device comprises a highly flexible core of metallic ornonmetallic material encased in a textile covering 25 which, because ofits texture and also because of a swelling action which takes placeafter a certain period of use, becomes such a tight fit in the loops ofthe fabric as to eliminate any possibility of the holding devicecreeping or pulling out of the loops. In one form of holding device thecore is composed of one or more lengths of highly flexible stranded wireencased in a braided covering made of heavy textile cords. In anotherform of holding device the core is made of relatively heavy textile cordprovided with a wrapping of finer cord which constitutes the textilecovering.

Proceeding now to a more detailed description of the invention referencewill be had to the ac- 40 companying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the two ends of a drier felt joinedtogether in accordance with this invention, one of the interfittingloops of the felt being broken away to expose the key or hold- 45 ingdevice which secures the two sets of loops in their interfittingrelation. In this view the key or holding device is shown as it appearsprior to a trimming operation by which the ends of said key or holdingdevice are cut off flush with the 50 side edges of the felt.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the key or holdingdevice as it appears after the aforesaid trimming operation.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially 55 along the line 3-3of Figure 2.

iii

Figure 4 is a view of the key or holding device per se.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing a modification of thekey or holding device.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 5 and 6 designate the twoends of a drier felt which are to be joined together. The end 5 isformed, as described in my prior patent, to present a plurality of loops1 fitted between similar loops 8 of the end 6. The two sets of loops aresecured together by passing therethrough my improved flexible key orholding device indicated at 9.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the key or holdingdevice comprises a metal core H and a fabric covering it. The core H mayconsist of one or more lengths of highly flexible wire which may beeither solid or stranded. In the present instance the core is formed bytwo lengths of stranded wire which are doubled upon themselves and thenencased in the fabric covering I2, so that the looped ends of the doublestrands project beyond one end of the fabric covering, as indicated atM. These looped ends it are adapted to be engaged by a hooked implementor otherwise employed to assist in drawing the key or holding devicethrough the loops 1 and 8. After the key or holding device has beendrawn through the loops, as shown in Figure 1, the projecting ends arecut off flush with the side edges of the felt, so that the finishedjoint has the appearance shown in Figure 2.

The fabric covering E2 of the key or holding device is preferably abraided covering made of relatively heavy textile cords. The irregularsurface presented by this type of covering is of advantage in that ittends to prevent the holding device creeping or pulling out of the loops1 and 8. Another advantage of the fabric covering is that, after acertain period of use, during which it is exposed to moisture, it tendsto swell and fill the loops so tightly as to prevent any possibility ofaccidental displacement with reference to the loops '5 and 8. Inaddition to these advantages the fabric covering prevents anypossibility of the loops being torn or damaged by contact with the metalcore portion of the key or holding device.

In the construction shown in Fig. 5, the core of the key or holdingdevice consists of a heavy cotton or other textile cord to doubled uponitself to provide parallel strands Mia and l6b which are bound togetherin side by side relation by a textile cord binding I! which serves asthe textile coverure 3 where it Will be noted that the thickness of jthe key is relatively small compared with its length and width.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1 A drier felthaving end portions turned back a and fastened to the body of the feltto provide integral tubular terminals, each of said terminals beingslotted to provide a series of loops fitted between the loops of theremaining terminals and a retaining key passing through the two sets ofloops and serving to hold them in their interfitting relation, said keycomprising a highly flexible core completely enclosed within a fabriccovering contacting said loops.

2. A drier felt having end portions turned back and fastened to the bodyof the felt to provide integral tubular terminals, each of saidterminals being slotted to provide a series of loops fitted between theloops of the remaining terminals and a retaining key passing through thetwo sets of loops and serving to hold them in their interfittingrelation, said key comprising a textile cord doubled upon itself toprovide two strands in side by side relation and means for binding saidstrands together comprising a wrapping of relatively finer textile cord.

TOM MILNES.

